2018 MLB Thread

[Draevyn]

I haven't had a lot of chance to watch spring training this year so I'm not sure how the Jays are doing but I'm definitely going to tune into a lot more games this year. I do hate that our first series is going to be against the Yankees. I feel like that's gonna hurt.

[Toe]

On 3/25/2018 at 10:39, Forever Forky said:

I haven't had a lot of chance to watch spring training this year so I'm not sure how the Jays are doing but I'm definitely going to tune into a lot more games this year. I do hate that our first series is going to be against the Yankees. I feel like that's gonna hurt.

Yeah. I get the sense that this Jays team is really going to need some good luck when it comes to injuries if they're going to contend for a playoff spot. If Happ, Estrada, Stroman, or Sanchez miss considerable time, it's going to really suck.

 

[Gabriel]

2 hours ago, Toe said:

Yeah. I get the sense that this Jays team is really going to need some good luck when it comes to injuries if they're going to contend for a playoff spot. If Happ, Estrada, Stroman, or Sanchez miss considerable time, it's going to really suck.

 

They have enough depth with their positional players to survive injuries there, whether it means using one of the many veterans they've acquired or giving a shot to one of the rookies, they should be able to find someone to step up to the Majors and make their case to stay on the team. The problem lays in the pitching, as outside of their starting five, only Joe Biagini really seems like a candidate to step in without negatively affecting the team. I am hoping that they add some more pitching as teams release guys who won't make their big league club in the next week or two. They should also keep an eye on teams that struggle out of the gate, because they might be able to turn their positional depth into a 3/4 starter as teams start to realize they are done for the 2018 season.

[gunnar hendershow]

I think the Jays and even more so the Orioles are gonna be too far back of New York and Boston now. Everything needs to go right for both of them to have a shot this year. And admittedly for both of them they'll probably be close enough in July to avoid doing trading away guys and getting prospects to retool with.

[Draevyn]

While the Jays may have the depth, I feel like they lack any potential stand out stars this year. Tulo and Donaldson have been way too injury prone last year. I know we have to forget about the days of Encarnacion and Bautista but I just don't feel like they've got anyone who can step into those spots batting wise. Donaldson if he stays healthy but I feel like the rest are mid-tier bats.

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

The thing that makes me a bit optimistic is that we're not really competing with New York and Boston (I mean we are but...) and the ceiling is the 2nd Wildcard. The Twins were that team last year and I'd put the Jays in the same category as the Twins. The Angels, Mariners and maybe Texas will also be there.

I think a lot of the Jays success leans on the rotation and Devon Travis staying healthy and then how well Smoak & Grichuk can hit. 

[gunnar hendershow]

The thing with the 2nd wild card is assuming NY and Boston both win 92-93 games at least you're basically gonna need to have a 3rd place team in that division win 88+. Very doable for Toronto, but divisions like the West and especially Central have such a low floor that Minnesota can get some cheap wins against very bad Detroit and Kansas City teams. The White Sox will be good, but probably not this year either. It's the unfortunate scenario where what division you're in comes into play. Granted the East has fielded both WCs before so it can happen again.

[The Buscher]

I've seen most people predicting one of the NL East teams to grab an NL Wild Card for much the same reason.  The theory is that all of the NL East teams will have nearly 20 games against the Marlins to fatten up, so whatever team really puts the hammer down on that terrible ball club will get a nice boost to their record by default.  It seems to be pretty well split on who among the Mets, Phillies, or Braves is the most likely to break out and make a playoff run but I can understand the thought that at least one of them will in a lousy division.

The most generous win total I've seen guessed for the Mets was 88 wins and a wild card from SI, and even in that scenario they had the Nats cakewalking to the division with 100 wins.

[The Buscher]

Final game of spring training. Cardinals playing the Blue Jays in Montreal. 19-year old Vladimir Guerrero Jr hits a walkoff home run with 2 outs in the 9th inning. Unbelievable.

[Gabriel]

If the season starts poorly, the Jays should just start making room for these young guys. It's not traditional, but I figure that the swagger these two (Vlad Jr & Ya Bich) have is exactly what the team needs. I'd hate to burn service time, but the Jays cannot afford to continue to trend downward without any real push-back. If the playoffs look out of range, re-sign some guys, trade the other pending free agents and move some of the prospects up. It's going to be their team anyways at some point. They may as well start building around them now.

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

Crazy that the highlight of the season might be from a spring training game where the player who hit the walk off home run won't play in the majors this year.

I totally disagree @Gabriel. I actually think that Vlad's show actually gives Shapiro some cover he trades Donaldson. I cannot see the front office rushing these guys and I really don't want them to. Vlad and Bo are obviously a step above Pompey but that experiment failed miserably. 

[gunnar hendershow]

You don't want to have guys spend too long down in the minors, sometimes they stagnate and pick up bad habits. The Astros wound up burning service time on some guys a year or two early than they probably would have preferred because of this. Other teams like to play games by sending guys to the minors for a few weeks and then calling them up to add one more year of major league service time. Overall I think it's best to go along naturally with them, unless they'd be a September call-up in which case it's usually foolish.

On the topic of trading Donaldson, I'm curious how it works out with he, Machado, and Moustakas. Machado is playing SS this year so he might be a little more tradeable, but these contending teams almost all have that side of the IF completely covered. How much would they want to give up for a position that isn't really a hole?

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

I mean, everything points to them both being up by next year, so it's not like we're talking like there are a ways away. I just don't really see the point of bringing them up if the team is bad just to have them in the majors. Neither guy has played a full season above Single A at this point. 

RE: Donaldson. You never know who might go down with an injury though. Could be some day looking for someone at the trade deadline who's willing to pay because their star went down. 

 

[Meacon Keaton]

Granted July is a long time away, and you never know what injury bugs will bite, but I don't see the Yanks shelling out a lot for a Donaldson or Machado. If we upgrade anything it'll be the rotation. Everything that I've heard and read leads me to believe the front office is content on getting Manny in December while keeping our prospects rather than giving a king's ransom for him in July. Maybe he ends up being sent to a Cleveland or San Francisco, but I'm fine keeping our youth and taking a chance that he tests free agency.

[The Buscher]

I had Opening Day booked off of work for months but, sadly, my day off is now dedicated to going to a funeral instead of having a relaxing day watching baseball

SNY are replaying the game at 8 PM, so I'm gonna try to avoid going onto social media during the trip home and watch the replay as if it were live.  All while awkwardly avoiding reading the ticker on the bottom of the screen which is likely to show the outcome.  I guess that would kinda sorta salvage the Opening Day experience.

[Meacon Keaton]

I just skimmed through my schedule again and I should be home at 3:30 tomorrow, just in time for the 3:37 start. 

Hooray baseball

[gunnar hendershow]

I'll be missing the start of the game unfortunately. But, hey, baseball is back! Woohoo! Opening Day is the best day of the year.

Predictions

American League

East: Boston, New York (WC), Toronto, Baltimore, Tampa Bay

Central: Cleveland, Minnesota, Chicago, Detroit, Kansas City

West: Houston, Los Angeles (WC), Texas, Seattle, Oakland

ALCS: Houston over Cleveland

National League

East: Washington, Philadelphia, New York, Atlanta, Miami

Central: Chicago, Milwaukee (WC), St. Louis (WC), Cincinnati, Pittsburgh

West: Los Angeles, Arizona, San Francisco, Colorado, San Diego

NLCS: Washington over Los Angeles

World Series: Houston over Washington

AL MVP: Mike Trout

NL MVP: Bryce Harper (Really wanted to pick Tommy Pham here, but it's too much of a longshot)

AL Cy Young: Chris Sale

NL Cy Young: Clayton Kershaw

AL ROY: Willie Calhoun

NL ROY: Ronald Acuna

[Meacon Keaton]

Sure I'll throw some predictions out that I can laugh at in September:

AL East - Yanks, BoSox, Toronto, Baltimore, Tampa

AL Central - Cleveland, Minnesota, Kansas City, ChiSox, Detroit

AL West - Houston, Texas, Angels, Oakland, Seattle

AL Wildcards - Red Sox & Twinkies

AL Playoffs - Twins over Red Sox in Wildcard; Houston over Twins in ALDS; Yanks over Cleveland in ALDS; Houston over Yanks in ALCS

NL East- Washington, Metropolitans, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Miami

NL Central - Cubbies, Cardies, Brewies, Pirates, Reddies

NL West - Dodgers, Rockies, Arizona, San Francisco, San Diego

NL Wildcards - Mets (assuming, ya know, no injuries) & Cardinals

NL Playoffs - Mets over Cardinals in Wildcard; Dodgers over Mets in NLDS; Cubs over Nats in NLDS; Cubs over Dodgers in NLCS

World Series: Cubs over Astros

AL MVP: Jose Altuve; I'm expecting Judge to regress a little in a sophomore slump and Stanton will likely hit closer to .250 than .300 which will help Altuve win another MVP

NL MVP: Kris Bryant; I'm expecting him to take the next big step toward superstardom this year

AL Cy Young: Dallas Keuchel; hard to go against Kluber, but if Houston wins as many games as I think they can, Keuchel could win 20+ games

NL Cy Young: Clayton Kershaw; Best pitcher in baseball and I don't think it's as close as people seem to think

AL Rookie of the Year: Franklin Barreto; I was going to say Willie Calhoun, but I'll take Franklin to be different from damshow

NL Rookie of the Year: Lewis Brinson; The guy has tons of talent and he'll be an every day player for the piss-poor Marlin team

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

11 hours ago, Meacon said:

I just skimmed through my schedule again and I should be home at 3:30 tomorrow, just in time for the 3:37 start. 

Hooray baseball

Should be a fun game today. I am looking forward to watching the Yanks play this year, just not necessarily against the Jays.

 

[Gabriel]

This opening series is really going to test the Jays pitching staff. The Yankees are a dangerous team in the batter's box, so this should be a good indication of whether or not the staff can handle that enough to keep the team in it. It's weird to see a Jays team that isn't built for power.